Stephen Curry may be in the early part of his career but one thing is evident: he has changed the outlook many players and coaches have on the game of basketball.

AP has acknowledged his impact and has decided to honor the crafty guard. Today the Warriors star joins LeBron James, Michael Jordan and Larry Bird as the only basketball players to win AP Male Athlete of the Year in the 85 years of the award.

"The way that I play has a lot of skill but is stuff that if you go to the YMCA or rec leagues or church leagues around the country, everybody wants to shoot, everybody wants to handle the ball, make creative passes and stuff like that," he said. "You can work on that stuff. Not everybody has the vertical or the physical gifts to be able to go out and do a windmill dunk and stuff like that. I can't even do it."

Curry has improved his scoring from 23.8 points per game to 30.8 -- the biggest one-year jump ever by an MVP. "Steph actually looks different," ESPN analyst Jalen Rose said. "Like the best player in the league usually is also physically opposing -- 6-6 plus, scowl on his face, menacing. With the attitude that we appreciated because like a Michael Jordan or Shaquille O'Neal or Kobe Bryant, you know, just a cutthroat nature. Steph allows us into his living room. We see him on a national stage be a son, a dad, a husband, a father, a brother. And he does all of it while continuing to improve."

Impactful I would pretty up there. On the court he dazzle and makes fan (both away and home) enjoy the game of basketball. In game, he gives you the spectacular displays similar to Iverson that makes you want to be like him and get fans into the game. He also is someone that would make opposing defense find different way of stopping him. Basically playing d in a different way evolving how defense is played. On offense he frees up his teammate and makes the rest of them better. At the moment though he is struggling. Off the court he is a role model. A player who is not materialistic and shows love to his family. Girls love Riley. The one thing is that comment Mark Jackson made about him. People took it negatively but mark had a point. Nowadays kids will jack up 3s and miss the point that curry can facilitate. You don't want everyone shooting 3s without learning to play the game, do you? So yes, he is an impactful player